U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,174 filed Apr. 23, 1987 entitled "Molded Case Circuit Breaker Operating Mechanism" describes a circuit breaker operating mechanism that is down-loaded within the circuit breaker case in a completely automated assembly process. The operating mechanism is controlled by an electronic trip circuit contained within the circuit breaker case. The circuit breaker latching assembly is designed for allowing manual reset of the circuit breaker operating mechanism by operation of the circuit breaker handle. When auxiliary functions are provided to the circuit breaker by means of circuit breaker accessories mounted within the circuit breaker cover, such as described within U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,247 filed Jun. 12, 1987 entitled "Molded Case Circuit Breaker Accessory Enclosure" some additional space is required within the breaker enclosure such that the travel of the circuit breaker operating handle is somewhat limited. Since the travel of the circuit breaker operating handle is used to reset the circuit breaker operating mechanism after a tripping function, the limitation in the travel of the operating handle can interfere with the circuit breaker's reset operation. Both of the aforementioned U.S. patents are incorporated herein for reference purposes and should be reviewed for their teachings of the interaction between the circuit breaker operating mechanism and the latch assembly as well as for their disclosure of the arrangement of circuit breaker accessories within the circuit breaker cover.
When the circuit breaker internal components are down-loaded in an automated assembly process, some time is required for attaching the circuit breaker operating mechanism to the circuit breaker base by means of elongated machine screws. One purpose of the instant invention is to provide a rapid means for attaching the operating mechanism to the circuit breaker base without requiring machine screws. Another purpose of this invention is to provide means for resetting the circuit breaker operating mechanism within the limited travel of the circuit breaker operating handle.